Phorm rollout, the Government’s response

In response to the questions being asked by the EU, the UK government has said that it is happy that Phorm conformed to the current EU data laws and that any future rollout of the targeted advertising system will have to comply with certain conditions.

If Phorm is to be deployed, the government says that it must be done with the consent of the internet service provider’s customers, and that the there should be an easy way for internet users to opt out of the service.

This seems to be giving Phorm the go ahead, despite many broadband users calling for an opt in policy.

How the ISPs go about deploying Phorm is something that will be studied in full by many people, especially following the way that BT secretly tested the system on its customers.

With the police still investigating complaints about the BT trials, would they go ahead with the next trial or wait to see what happens with the inquiry?